these might be juvenile dragonflies but they couls be mayflies. there are suddenly a lot of them here.

hard to get a good shot – only 50/60mm long and dart around a lot.

I think mayflies fold their wings at rest and dragonflies don’t. Have you noticed what they do?

bluegreen said:

I think mayflies fold their wings at rest and dragonflies don’t. Have you noticed what they do?

will check thanks

they stop beating their wings and hold them still together along their back – no folding but stationary.
their face and rear tip are an aquamarine – bright bluegreen colour in full light – could be irradescent.

pepper said:

they stop beating their wings and hold them still together along their back – no folding but stationary.
their face and rear tip are an aquamarine – bright bluegreen colour in full light – could be irradescent.

That’s what I meant by folded so I think they are Mayflies then, and dragonflies always hold their wings perpendicular to their bodies.

bluegreen said:

pepper said:

they stop beating their wings and hold them still together along their back – no folding but stationary.
their face and rear tip are an aquamarine – bright bluegreen colour in full light – could be irradescent.

That’s what I meant by folded so I think they are Mayflies then, and dragonflies always hold their wings perpendicular to their bodies.

i think they are mayflies – 6 dragonflies just did a demo flight and they are so much bigger i don’t think these will ever reach the size.

pepper said:

bluegreen said:

pepper said:

they stop beating their wings and hold them still together along their back – no folding but stationary.
their face and rear tip are an aquamarine – bright bluegreen colour in full light – could be irradescent.

That’s what I meant by folded so I think they are Mayflies then, and dragonflies always hold their wings perpendicular to their bodies.

i think they are mayflies – 6 dragonflies just did a demo flight and they are so much bigger i don’t think these will ever reach the size.

So what does a Mayfly do??? I have heard of march flies.

Lucky1 said:

So what does a Mayfly do??? I have heard of march flies.

make more Mayflies :D

bluegreen said:

Lucky1 said:

So what does a Mayfly do??? I have heard of march flies.

make more Mayflies :D

Ha, ha……. you have too much time on your hands…LOL

Mayfly

actually I think pepper’s ones might be Damselflies

friends just left – sorry about the leave.
what do they do ? – predators maybe – i read wikipedia before asking the question and mayflies are possible predators – of what?
damsel flies are bigger than these guys i think.

I gather it is the nymph form that are the (possible) predators. As they live in the water at that stage I guess they would prey on other aquatic critters.

bluegreen said:

I gather it is the nymph form that are the (possible) predators. As they live in the water at that stage I guess they would prey on other aquatic critters.

i just realised that too – they are a year as a nymth and a day as a flier? so you are right – as an adult there is only time for one thing .
they are all gonna be dead soon ! weird thing nature.

saw an Attenborough documentary once that showed hundreds of thousands of mayflies emerging from the water all together. It was amazing.

bluegreen said:

saw an Attenborough documentary once that showed hundreds of thousands of mayflies emerging from the water all together. It was amazing.

i wished i had a better camera – i may (sic) not see these guys again for a year.

bluegreen said:

actually I think pepper’s ones might be Damselflies

oops – ms pepe now says they are damselflies – because wait for it – of the way they hold their wings – sorry BG you might have been right.
they are still here which means they didn’t live for 1 day.